Waiting For a Sign
by only here in your arms
Summary: After taking down as many enemies as she could, Carol waits at the designated meeting place for any sign of her family. She waits for hours after the final shot, afraid that she's now left alone in this cold world, until a familiar voice comes across.


**Just a little Caryl drabble. This is my first attempt at The Walking Dead fanfic and I don't know if I'll write more but I thought I'd share. I just love Daryl and Carol so much and would love for them to be "together" on the show but just these subtleties and sweetness is good enough.**

**Also, this is no way a prediction of what I think will happen. I just wanted to write a scene where Carol and Daryl reunite after the Woodbury war.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

The shots in the distance ended hours ago, around sunset, and Carol was sitting in the darkness of night.

Carol watched and waited for any sign of her family. They'd set up a designated meeting spot if they were split up during the war with Woodbury. After managing to take down a group of men and after a close call with a young woman, who Carol managed to shoot in the forehead, Carol found herself out of bullets. She looked around to see any familiar faces around her and seeing none, she trekked through the woods to their meeting place.

She was the only one who'd arrived for hours. No walkers were near, thankfully, but Carol had a very unsettled stomach. Her entire family could be dead and she could be waiting for nothing. But she still had hope. Someone, if not everyone, in her family must've survived. They were _survivors_, and wouldn't go down. After what they've been through, they would all do anything to live.

With only her empty rifle and the clothes on her body, Carol sat on the Yellow Jacket Creek bridge ledge and watched the still water. They'd picked this spot as their meeting spot after Daryl suggested it. It wasn't far from the prison but still safe enough, with a water supply close by. Carol had found in easily enough and saw abandoned cars and rotting dead walkers. She had no energy to look through the cars, figuring she could at least wait for someone to come before looting the cars.

The chill of the night would've made her body shiver but the weather didn't even register to her. Carol focused on her worries and prayed to the God she didn't even believe anymore that her family was safe. Beth and Hershel were in charge of Judith; they were to lead her out safely at the earliest possible chance, but Carol hadn't spotted their car at all. Rick ordered Carl to stay within in sight, Maggie and Glenn obviously paired up, and Daryl and Merle led the assault and fired the first shots. Michonne decided to wait quietly in the woods and attack any Woodbury member that crossed her path.

Anything could have gone wrong. And here she was, safe, unscathed, relatively fine, while her people could be dying or bleeding out or walkers by now.

At the sound of a broken twig, Carol flipped around from the ledge and brought out her knife.

Her eyes had to adjust to the darkness coming from woods to the right. The soft, slow footsteps matched those of a walker and Carol prepared herself to attack. But she heard none of the usual moans and groans of a walker.

"Hello?" she nervously whispered into the darkness.

Immediately she regretted her action. This could be an enemy and she just made her presence known.

"Who's there?" a rough, familiar voice said.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Carol smiled and ran towards the voice, dropping her rifle loudly on the ground. She collided with a hard body and she wrapped her arms around it, knowing full well who it was.

"Thank God," Carol breathed. Her eyes filled with tears quickly. "I thought I was alone."

"You ain't alone," Daryl assured her.

"Who else is with you?" Carol asked, pulling back from him but remaining close. "I haven't seen anyone for hours."

"Fancy seein' you around here!"

Carol looked over Daryl's shoulder and saw Merle's shiny stump before seeing the man himself. Regardless of her annoyance with the older Dixon, she was glad to see him alive. Clearly he'd fought on the same side of his brother, her family's side, and Carol was grateful for it.

"Glad to see a familiar face," Merle said with his smirk. "You been out here all on your lonesome?"

"Merle, go look in the cars for stuff we can use," Daryl ordered, turning his head to look at his brother, and then turning back to Carol.

Merle went to do as his brother asked but not before seeing Carol's unconscious shiver from the cold. "I'll find ya a cozy blanket," Merle said, leaning in slightly to Carol. "Keep ya warm."

Daryl resisted the urge to shove his brother away from Carol when Merle went toward one of the cars. Carol was shivering, she realized, and she rubbed her hands over her arms.

"I was so worried that I didn't realize I didn't have my sweater," Carol admitted sheepishly. "No ammo, no sweater, no food, no water."

"We'll find all that," Daryl said seriously. "Just…"

He set his crossbow softly on the ground before shrugging off his leather jacket, with winged vest attached, and draped it over her shoulders. "This'll keep ya warm."

Carol smiled slightly and tucked her arms into the sleeves. "Thank you."

Daryl just nodded and looked away briefly before looking back and asking, "So what should we do?"

Carol shook her head. "I don't know. Wait, I guess? Whoever's alive will make their way here eventually, right? So we wait."

"We can wait," Daryl repeated, nodding his head. "Give it a few days and then we have to find someplace else."

Carol didn't want to think about leaving the bridge without anyone else but she knew he was right. They couldn't wait forever. They'd have to move on, with or without the family.

"Merle and I can go hunt for food and get some water in the morning. You can look through the cars for anything useful, maybe we can get a car running. Wait for the others."

Carol could only nod to Daryl's plan. She stepped away from Daryl to look towards the edge of the bridge where Daryl and Merle came from. She wanted to sit there and wait in hopes of seeing another person she cared for but before she could move, Daryl grabbed her arm gently.

"You should get some rest," he said.

"But the others—"

"I'll wake ya if they come," Daryl promised. "Come on, you can sleep in one of the cars and I'll keep watch."

"Found a nice blanket and pillow for ya!" Merle said near one of the larger cars. "Go on and sleep, little lady. My brother and I will keep ya safe."

Oddly reassured by the words of both brothers, Carol went into the car and found Merle hadn't been lying. There was a fluffy pillow and a blanket waiting for her. She went to close the door but before she did, she called Daryl's name.

"I'm glad you're safe," she whispered to him hesitantly so Merle wouldn't be able to hear.

"Must have nine lives too," Daryl retorted with a slight smile. He closed the car door and watched Carol get situated, laying down in the backseat.

Daryl walked back to Merle who was looting around in another car. Merle had a bag half filled with a few things that could be useful and Daryl searched for any type of food to have ready for Carol.

"Knew you were sweet on her," Merle said to him amusedly.

"Don't know what you're talkin' bout," Daryl muttered from the front seat of the abandoned car.

"You should know that she told me not to mess with you," Merle admitted. This caught Daryl's attention. He turned his head around quickly. "Yeah, man. Basically said she'd kill me if I did. Knew at that moment that she was a spitfire, could handle a Dixon, and it ain't me."

Daryl knew what Merle was alluding to. And he'd been struggling with the idea internally, there was no way he would admit it to his own brother.

"It ain't like that," he settled on saying before moving to another car.

"If ya do ever find the balls to get on with her ya better keep it quiet! Looks like we'll be travelin' real close and I don't wanna hear my baby brother gettin' it on."

"Will ya just shut it? Good lord." Daryl decided to look in the cars far away from Merle to avoid his comments. He passed by the car Carol was sleeping in on his way to a small car. He looked in it briefly to see that she was at least trying to sleep, if not asleep already.

Assured that she was safe at least for this moment, Daryl carried on with his search, the words of his brother swimming in his mind.

Like he hadn't already thought of the possibility of telling Carol how he felt. He couldn't even put it to words himself. He was more than "sweet" on her, as Merle put it. And it wasn't like he was itching to "get on with her", though he was, but that wasn't what consumed his thoughts of her.

He wanted her safe. Always.

And with him. Always.

And of course he thought of Rick, Carl, Asskicker, Glenn, Maggie, Hershel, and Beth. Hell, even Andrea and Michonne. And he wanted them to just walk upon the bridge, safe and unhurt.

But right now he was sure of one thing; Carol was safe.

And he could only do one thing right now; make sure she stays that way.


End file.
